The present invention relates to the field of round balers and, more particularly, to a way of reducing the collection and accumulation of stray crop materials at undesirable locations within the baler such as, for example, on the rollers, shafts, bearings and other hardware of the baler, as well as within void areas behind forming belts of the machine.
The accumulation of stray or xe2x80x9ctrashxe2x80x9d crop materials at various locations within a round baler is a serious problem because it can lead to premature bearing failures and otherwise interfere with proper operation of the machine. The opposite ends of rollers near sidewalls of the baler are particular vulnerable, whether they are found in fixed or variable chamber machines, belt-type machines, machines with chains and slats, machines with rollers only, or machines with various combinations of these features. The problem is exacerbated in higher moisture conditions, such as during silage baling, because the wet, dense materials have a greater tendency to cling to the working components and adhere to one another at undesirable locations. Balers with windrow pickup headers that are wider than the baling chambers further compound the problem because the outboard margins of the wide stream of picked up materials are consolidated centrally before being fed rearwardly into the baling chamber, tending to cause heavy concentrations of materials near the sidewalls of the baler.
In machines employing belts or other web-like structures, a small clearance gap is created between the belt edges and the adjacent sidewalls. Crop materials entering the machine seem to become pinched in those gaps and then get carried by the belts to other areas of the baler, where they find their way behind the belts to accumulate in large masses or collect upon and wrap around various moving components. While numerous efforts have been made in the industry over a significant period of time to remedy these trash problems, none has been completely successful.
In accordance with the present invention, special deflectors are provided in the intake area of the baler to direct incoming materials away from the sidewalls toward the center of the machine. In a preferred embodiment, each deflector is generally wedge-shaped, having an upright angled deflecting surface that slopes inwardly and rearwardly generally toward the center line of the machine as the chamber is approached such that incoming crop materials are directed away from sidewalls, roller ends, chains, and outer belt edges. Each deflector preferably has an upright, rear, transversely extending wall interconnecting a rear extremity of the deflecting wall with the corresponding sidewall of the baler, and a generally triangular top wall that is connected to and overlies both the deflecting wall and the rear wall. The bottom of each deflector is left open and rests upon an upwardly and rearwardly inclined ramp surface in the intake region of the baler. Preferably, each deflector is hollow so as to present a cavity on its interior that generally faces the corresponding sidewall and within which a fastening bolt may be housed for attaching the deflector to the sidewall.